Beating Manchester United and taking on Arsenal - Jon Stead on life at Blackburn Rovers

Jon Stead spent a year with Rovers, scoring eight times in 42 appearances

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Blackburn Rovers have enjoyed some memorable victories over Manchester United down the years.

Pipping the Red Devils to the Premiership title will not be topped anytime soon while David Bentley's hat-trick, Morten Gamst Pedersen's double and Grant Hanley's header are all fine moments in recent years.

Another Rovers win over United came when they won 1-0 in May 2004 to secure a crucial three points to help them seal top flight safety.

The winner came from Jon Stead, who spent just 18 months at Ewood Park, but made an immediate impact in the closing stages of that campaign having joined from Huddersfield Town for £1.25million.

He scored the winner on his debut at Middlesbrough and netted six in 13 games that term, including a late winner against a star-studded United.

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“We played them at home and we were really scrambling for points to stay in the Premier League.

“To get the winner with five or six minutes to go, I was on cloud nine. It was like walking into another world. It was something special, that day. Even now it feels like it didn’t really happen.”

United were battling with Arsenal for supremacy in England at the time with the latter going unbeaten through that season.

And Stead, who struggled in his only full season at Ewood, netting just twice in 34 games before leaving for Sunderland for £1.8million, recalls coming up against Arsene Wenger's side as they surpassed Nottingham Forest's 42-match unbeaten record in September 2004.

"That Invincibles team were brilliant,” recalls Stead.

Ronaldo clashes with Jonathan Stead at Ewood Park

"Obviously they were still at Highbury then, Arsenal, and we played them there… we got beat 3-0 and they had the likes of [Robert] Pires, [Thierry] Henry and they were just an incredible, incredible team.

"I think I was playing on the left of a three up front. We were just terrified, we hardly touched the ball.

“The pitch... it just seemed so small. Once they started moving the ball you could not get near them. They absolutely destroyed us. I think that was the first game where I thought: ‘Wow, that is just a team that we are a gulf away from.’"